Final Reflections - Rachel Mosher

In what ways have you examined fundamental beliefs about diverse learners with respect to learning and teaching

            Since reading Holler If You Hear Me, the teaching methods and approaches to diverse learners suggested by Greg Michie throughout his book and really shown me how diverse we must be as teachers to reach individual students. Mr. Michie’s approach to teaching truly impacted the way students were able to connect to one another and appreciate their community and environment around them. My beliefs about diverse learners in respect to learning and teaching has been strengthened by the many ways Mr. Michie took the time to dig deeper with his students and teach according to the student interest, learning styles, and so on. He was able to connect with his students on a different level and touched their lives on personal levels where they felt comfortable enough to open their minds to new possibilities.

How or in what ways have you reframed your perspectives on diversity with the intent to inform future practice?

I spoke to this question during our class discussion this week, but I have to say that my perspective has completely taken a major turn in my original perspective on teaching in an urban setting. I would once have to agree and say that I was very opposed to the idea of ever teaching in an urban setting school district. I was never really exposed to this type of setting and from all of the rumors I had heard about teaching in the urban setting, I remember saying I many occasions that it would actually scare me to teach in this type of environment. After reading the rewarding and amazing journey Mr. Michie made with his students in an urban setting, I now feel ashamed and embarrassed for ever feeling scared or making these comments about teaching in an urban setting. I realize that I had a major “single story” when it came to teachers and students in an urban setting school district. I now feel that my opinion and perspective on the possibility of teaching in an urban setting has completely changed and I am much more open to the idea of having a future teaching job in an urban school district.

Final Thoughts- Stephanie Baldwin

In what ways have you examined fundamental beliefs about diverse learners with respect to learning and teaching?

 

This book helped me see that even if I didn't grow up with the same experience as my students, I will still be able to find ways to reach out to them.

How or in what ways have you reframed your perspectives on diversity with the intent to inform future practice?

 

I think someone else may have said this also, but before reading this book I was very intimidated by urban school districts.  I could never see myself teaching in one and had no clue how I would ever relate to the students.  This book helped me see that as long as I care about the students and make an effort, it doesn't matter where I teach or what background my students have.   

Final Reflection- Hannah Schreiber

In what ways have you examined fundamental beliefs about diverse learners with respect to learning and teaching?

Throughout this book, I have learned a lot about the urban learner and different needs that this kind or learner has. I learned about different teaching styles that Mr. Michie uses to reach these urban learners, such as digging into culturally significant, and relevant issues that are happening right outside of these children's doorsteps. When you use matter that is relevant to the children's lives it really makes learning not so much of a chore.

 How or in what ways have you reframed your perspectives on diversity with the intent to inform future practice?

I honestly agree with what Kathleen said in her blog. Before reading this book, the thought of teaching in an urban setting completely terrified me. I've heard horror stories of 6 yr olds bringing 6 inch blades into school for "show-and-tell". Now that I have read this book and Mr. Michie's accounts of what he did in the classroom and what his class meant to so many children, it really seems to me like such a rewarding job. As teachers, we have such an ability to create change for these children and that is really what I want to do as a teacher is change the lives of my students. Reading this book really made me re-think my fear of Urban schools, and who knows, maybe I'll be teaching in the city of Rochester in the next few years. :-) 

Kathleen - Final Reflection

End of Book Reflection:

Through this class and the exploration of this book I’ve come to be analyze my own teaching practices. I am challenged to face my thinking of urban schools, and address that since I have no direct experience in an urban setting that I do have misconceptions about schools like Quincy. I know that the experiences I’ve had with students in an urban setting are almost identical to those I’ve had in suburban settings, and I know and completely believe that kids are kids no matter where they come from. Whether about urban education, learners from various ethnic or religious backgrounds or students with disabilities I need to approach teaching, not with a deficit model of thinking, but rather asking what can students bring to the table.

I don’t know if my views have been changed, so much as cemented. I have no real experience teaching in an urban setting so many of the things discussed in Holler if You Hear Me I have never experienced first hand but the themes, the major thoughts brought up in Michie’s chapters easily relate to experiences that occur in every classroom. The more I read and the more I learn about other classrooms the vision of what I want to create for my own classroom becomes more and more clear. I want to teach my curriculum with relevancy to student experience, I want to give students a voice in class, to allow them to be teachers as well as learners. My goal is to create a space where students want to learn, where they feel valued and able to share their experiences and participate in the class learning. I understand that I come into the classroom as biased and that I need to continually challenge these biases, and work to create a classroom free of bias so that my students are learning material not my opinion. No matter who they are and what challenges they may face a student is a student and deserves my respect, attention and my concentration as an individual.

Chapter 10- Hannah Schreiber

Connector:

Yesenia tells Mr. Michie that she is afraid to graduate- p.174
I'm sure that all of us have felt this way at some point or another, fearing the end of another chapter in our lives. In 5th grade I was afraid to move on to 6th grade because I had heard that the teacher was really mean. In 6th grade I was afraid to "graduate" because I would be moving to a new school with only 2 of my classmates from elementary school. In 8th grade I was afraid to "graduate" because once again, I was moving to a new school where not all of my best friends were going. After Highschool, I was terrified to move to college. I bawled my eyes out for a week straight just before move-in weekend. As the end of my senior year of college drew nearer, I had the same terrified feeling. Who knew what was coming next. I didn't have a job lined up, I hadn't heard back from Naz if I had gotten into my program or not, and worst of all, I didn't know if I'd ever see my friends anymore since we live so far away. In the end, if we are strong enough, we make it through these minor bumps in the road and move on to bigger things and greater possibilities.

"What had mattered for Martn Ruiz, and for a half-dozen other quincy eighth graders, were two 40-minute-long multiple choice tests they'd taken back in April"p. 177
Honestly, this pissed me off. After all of his dedication and hard work, just to fail a stupid multiple choice test by one point seems just a bit stupid to me. I don't think that any standardized test does our students justice. The only real way to truly know their understanding is to have a conversation with them, or observe them completing a related task. There is always some oddly stated question, or tricky answers that throw the kids off. If standardized test scores were accurate then over a half of my class is below where I know they are.

"I plan to change the world A naive notion? Maybe. Chiched? Perhaps. But Gyasi's bold declaration none-the-less crystallizes whi I-- and I think most teachers-- chose our vocation in the first place, and, more importantly, why we keep on keeping on." p. 193 (its actually a part of the afterword to the 1st edition)
So very true. I became a teacher because I wanted to impact the lives of young learners. I wanted to spark a love for learning that carries them through the rest of their education (and possibly lives). Its a big expectation for myself, but my Grandmother has told me a story 100 times about a teacher she had when she was 6. She still remembers what she looked like, remembers how she treated her students, and claims to be able to still hear her voice. Thats what I want to be for my students. I want them to remember me in a good way when they're 84, and more importantly, I want them to remember the values that I've tried to instill in them.

Researcher:
 Mr. Michie describes what the mariachi band looks and sounds like, but I figured that a mere description couldn't possibly do the real performance justice, so I looked up some videos of mariachi bands:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3C6dYn0mTgw


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6i70WwB_xRU


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=329L-ZQfbWo


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kr1F_wAJi3c


Essence Extractor: Teachers need to celebrate those seemingly small milestones in their students journey. it is the small victories that give the student the motivation and the confidence to be successful.

Chapter 10 and Final Chapters! - Rachel Mosher

Creative Connector

Pg. 174-175: Yesenia and her confession to Mr. Michie that she does not want to leave Quincy:

I think we can all relate to this moment in some way or another. I remember how scary it felt to leave any huge milestone in my life whether it was the move from high school to college and college to now. Both moments have me feeling the way Yesenia feels; miserably sad because of the unknown and leaving all of my closest friends to move on with my life. That was a very powerful moment in the book to see just how insecure and scared these students were to go into this completely new world of challenges and possible disappointments. It is never an easy change, but one that everyone must endure and discover new things about themselves and the world that they didn’t know was there. Of course there will be obstacles along the way for Yesenia and the other students of Quincy, however, the students will live and learn along the way as they continue to grow, make mistakes, gain success, and discover new inner identity.

Pg. 182-183: Final scenes of graduation and the mariachi band performance:

This scene of graduation made me think of my own graduations and the emotions you feel on that day. It is, in reality, just an ordinary day, but it is also a huge step on someone’s path of life. I could picture this scene of the surprise mariachi band performance in my head and the absolute shock and excitement on all of the students’ faces. If I were Mr. Michie, I would do the same thing as he did and take a seat and enjoy the moment. I’m sure for him, it was one of the happiest days to see all of his students celebrating together, laughing together, crying together, and enjoying themselves together. It was a long and hard year for Mr. Michie and his students, but I have a feeling that on that day, those feelings go away for most of them as they find the good and positive outcomes of that year and look at all that they had accomplished together as a community.

The Final Chapters in Holler If You Hear Me!:

Even though Chapter 10 was the last chapter, there were still a few chapters at the end that catch up on where all of the students Mr. Michie discusses throughout the book are today. I was very compelled to read these chapters because as I read through the chapters about his students, I almost felt like I knew them and that I had this connection into their life. I wanted to check and see if the students who did go through difficult times throughout the book ended up finding happiness and success later in their lives. Most students did, others didn’t. The one story that broke my heart the most was Reggie. Reggie, who was so innocent, quiet, and polite in school, was unfortunately dealt with a difficult year when he was a subject of police brutality. Today, he remains in prison for attempted murder. It breaks my heart to read stories like this and make me wonder how and why things continued to get so hard for Reggie. I then think about myself as a teacher and how I would feel reading a story in the paper like Reggie’s about one of my former students and how that would make me feel. I know I would want to do something, or think about something I could have done better in the past maybe. Of course, that probably wouldn’t change much of what life has in store for most people, but I will always feel for and care about my students, no matter how much time has gone by since I last saw or taught them. I think that is what I took away most from this book; finding those connections with my students and holding on to them for years to come. That is, after all why I wanted to become a teacher in the first place.

Essence Extractor:

Hold on to that one thing that keeps you going as you teach, and never let it go.

Vocabulary:

Hoopla- Bustling excitement or activity; commotion

Taquitos- Small cubes

Reverberate- To reecho or resound

Demeanors- Conduct; behavior; deportment

Novios- Boyfriend

Rancheras- Popular Mexican song

Mariachi band- Mexican street band

Charros- Guady; showy

Guitarron- A large guitar

Elotes- Sweet corn; corn

Chicharrones- Cold processed meat made from pork

Balada- Ballad; a song

Chapter 10- Stephanie Baldwin

Creative Connector

p. 164

The author talks about the violence Yesenia has experienced.

I am a little concerned here when the author is talking about all of the violence that Yesenia has endured from her father.  Nowhere does he mention that he went to the police about this.  He merely just asks if her dad came back.  This makes me extremely angry.  If he didn’t do anything about Yesenia’s abuse, he doesn’t deserve to be a teacher.  It is our duty to look after the well-being of our students, especially when it’s blaringly obvious that something is wrong.  It’s one thing to care, but another to act. 

p. 164

Yesenia doesn’t want to graduate and is sobbing over this fact.

I can completely relate to Yesenia.  I did NOT want to graduate college.  All of my friends are still there and I was not ready for the “real world.”  I would get so upset just thinking about it.  Whenever my roommate wanted me to clean (I clean when I get upset or stressed), he would just mention that I was graduating.  On the day of graduation I was in the foulest of moods.  I didn’t want to be there and thought the whole thing was a waste of time.  But it’s all over now.  I can’t stop time and I have to move forward with my life.  Perhaps I’ll feel the same way again when I’m done with graduate school, but there’s no use in getting upset over it because it’s unpreventable (unless I purposely fail, which would be a waste of money).

Rigorous Researcher

Since it’s the end of the book, I’ve decided I’m going to research a few random things that I’ve wondered about throughout the book. 

Mariachi bands:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariachi

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8ryH6UD53o&feature=pyv&ad=4458540085

About the Back of Yards:

http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/99.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_City,_Chicago

Essence Extractor

Success sometimes has to be intrinsically motivated.